Jealous?
by MildlyInsane
Summary: When Marco finds out Dylan is cheating on him, he tries to make Dylan jealous by going off with another guy whom he has just met, Derek. When Derek tries to take things further than Marco wants to and is declined, will he take No for an answer?
1. Chapter 1

**Good day. Before I start, here is a disclaimer and author's note:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi. Not the old episodes which I love, nor the new ones which I wouldn't want to own anyway. I miss Marco and Dylan in the new ones. :( And also Alex. The only character whom I even like in the new episodes is Jane. The rest entirely annoy me. I'm glad I don't own them. So this story isn't for profit, just to ease my boredom and so you guys can read it. I hope you like it. :)**

**Author's note: First off, the original character in this story, Derek, is NOT the Derek from the show. I know there's an annoying kid named Derek in the later episodes of Degrassi, but the one in this story is NOT him. The only characters from the show in this story are Marco and Dylan, with a few mentionings of other characters. This is meant to take place during the episode when Marco found out Dylan was cheating on him at his University, when Dylan suggested that they see other people. I believe the episode was called_ Moonlight Desires?_ Correct me if I'm wrong. :)**

**Here you go:**

**Chapter1**

Marco was angry. In fact, he was on the verge of being completely furious. Not only had Dylan suggested that they see other people, but he did so only after Marco caught him already doing what he was suggesting. Dylan wasn't asking if it was okay with Marco; he was telling Marco that he _was_ going to see other people, whether Marco liked it or not. More than angry, however, Marco felt extremely emotionally hurt. The thought of Dylan even wanting to date other guys made him feel like he was not good enough for the older boy. Marco loved Dylan more than anything. As long as he had Dylan, he didn't need anyone or anything else, but why didn't Dylan feel the same way about him? If he felt the need to date other people in addition to Marco, the feeling couldn't be mutual. To Marco, Dylan was the world, but apparently to Dylan, Marco was just another boy.

He didn't know whether to scream or to cry. All of the emotions welling up inside him were beginning to drive him crazy. He had to do something to make himself feel less cheated. Marco scanned the room. He knew exactly what he was going to do. He would find some other boy at the party and make out with him in order to make Dylan jealous. Perhaps Dylan wanted to have Marco as well as other guys, and didn't think Marco would actually date other people. Maybe once he saw Marco with another boy he would change his mind.

Marco spotted a tall boy standing in the corner of the room. He looked to be about Dylan's age and seemed like the type of person who might be desperate enough to make out with a boy he just met. He was simply watching other people talk, but wasn't talking to anyone himself. Marco assumed he was the shy type and perhaps would jump at the chance of anyone showing interest in him. Marco walked up to him.

"Hey," Marco greeted him, "I'm Marco... so what year are you?" he started, not wanting to jump right into his real reason for striking up the conversation.

He smiled, "I'm Derek. This is my second year," he began, "how about you? First year?"

"Well... no, actually," Marco informed him, "I'm still in high school, but I'm thinking of going here when I graduate. I'm in grade eleven now, so I'll have to be thinking about where to go to University... How are the rooms here?" he asked, "I've only ever seen Dylan's."

"Well, I could show you mine," Derek suggested, seeming to get exactly what Marco was hinting at. Marco hoped he wouldn't want to go further than kissing. Sure, he wanted to get back at Dylan, but he hadn't ever been in a relationship with anyone besides Dylan, and definitely didn't want to go too far with this boy whom he just met. He just needed to go far enough to make Dylan jealous.

Marco smiled up at him, "that would be nice," he lied. Marco wasn't really interested in Derek at all. Sure, maybe the guy was nice once you got to know him, but at the moment, Marco was just looking to make Dylan jealous, and didn't even care to get to know his new acquaintance. He looked over at Dylan, who smiled back at him. Marco frowned. Dylan didn't seem to care at all. Maybe he would when he saw Marco leaving with another guy...

Marco followed Derek to the building's elevator, and to his room, "The rooms aren't very big," Derek informed him sliding his key card through the lock on the door, "I'm sure you already know that if you've been to Dylan's. His room is pretty much just like mine."

Marco nodded. Suddenly a horrifying thought crept into his mind. If Dylan had been seeing other guys, for who knows how long, maybe he had been seeing Derek at some point. They lived in the same building, so it was entirely possible... Plus, Derek seemed to imply that he knew what Dylan's room looked like. Marco inhaled, pushing that thought out of his head as well as he could and followed Derek into the room.

"Well, this is it," Derek commented, sitting down on the bed and patting the mattress beside him, silently asking Marco to join him.

Marco wasn't sure he wanted to be here anymore. He never wanted to go with Derek in the first place; he just wanted Dylan to see him leave with him so he would be jealous and stop him before anything else happened. Marco sat down, his heart beating so loudly he feared Derek would hear it and ask what he was so nervous about.

Derek turned and looked at Marco who reluctantly looked back, wishing he had never come here. He didn't want Derek to feel like Marco was just using him for revenge, but he really didn't want the alternative either.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked, reaching over and rubbing Marco's arm.

Marco hesitated for a moment, "Um... nothing. Nothing's wrong," he lied, forcing a smile.

Derek smiled back and leaned in, kissing Marco lightly on the lips. Without meaning to, Marco felt himself become tense. He tried his best to relax. He could just kiss Derek for a few minutes and then forget all about this. Surely Marco had already done enough to make Dylan jealous, if that was even possible.

Derek continued kissing Marco, hardly seeming to care that Marco wasn't kissing back and seemed entirely uncomfortable about their current situation. What had been light kissing was turning more rough, and Derek now had his hands on Marco's waist. Marco tried to stay calm longer, but the more he let Derek kiss him, the more rough the older boy was becoming, and the more Marco knew he should just tell Derek the truth sooner rather than later.

Marco pulled away, "wait!" he protested.

"What?" Derek asked, keeping his hands where they had been prior to Marco's objection.

Marco wriggled out of Derek's grasp, "I'm sorry," he said, out of breath from a near panic attack, "I'm so sorry, Derek. I can't do this."

"What do you mean?" Derek asked, moving his hands back to Marco's waist, "we were just kissing. What's wrong?"

"I can't," Marco repeated, "I... I just... I'm sorry. I just wanted to make Dylan jealous... but I can't do this. I shouldn't have lied to you," Marco stood, "I'm sorry."

Marco gasped as Derek grasped his arm and pulled him back down onto the bed, "you can't just leave, Marco," he insisted, "you can't just lead someone on like that."

"I know I shouldn't have," Marco agreed, "and I'm sorry," he tried to pull out of Derek's grasp, but this time the older boy refused to let go, "let me go," Marco demanded, his voice sounding a lot more frightened than he had intended.

Derek shook his head, "I'm not letting you leave until we finish what we started."

Marco's eyes were wide as he tried to pry Derek's fingers away and free himself. What did Derek mean? Did he just want to finish kissing? Or did he expect more? "please let me go," Marco pleaded. Derek's grip was extremely secure and it didn't seem like he would be letting Marco go any time soon.

Derek responded by pushing Marco down onto the bed and beginning to kiss him again, holding both of his arms now, pinning him down so that Marco could do nothing to stop him.

"Stop!" Marco pleaded, trying desperately to free his arms from Derek's strong grasp. When Derek showed no intention of stopping Marco decided he should call out for help, in hope that someone in the residence hall would be in their room or in the hallway and would hear him, "Help me!" he screamed, "Help-"

He was cut off when Derek hit him hard across the side of his face and proceeded to clamp his hand over Marco's mouth. Marco's left hand was now free, but even so he couldn't escape, "shut up," Derek demanded, staring down at Marco who stared back up at him with dark, frightened eyes.

Derek moved his hand which had been covering Marco's mouth, wrapping his fingers around Marco's neck, "don't make a sound," he threatened, "understand?"

Marco didn't answer at first. He considered screaming again right then, until he felt Derek's grasp tighten, restricting his breathing, "I said, don't make a sound. Understand?" he repeated, squeezing Marco's throat. Marco reached up with his free hand, trying unsuccessfully to move Derek's finger's away. He nodded, answering Derek's request. Derek released his grip, allowing Marco to gasp for air for a moment. Just as soon as Marco thought Derek might let him go, he grabbed Marco's arms again and pushed him back down onto the bed.

Marco felt tears in his eyes as Derek continued kissing him, on his lips and then down his neck. He could do nothing to stop Derek. As hard as he struggled, Derek was simply too strong, and if he screamed, Derek would probably strangle him. The only possibility would be to try to reason with him. He was frightened that Derek would be upset if he even spoke at all, but he had to try.

"Please stop," Marco whimpered, trying not to be loud enough to provoke Derek into feeling the need to silence him by striking him or choking him again.

Derek didn't even seem to hear what Marco had said. He continued to kiss his neck and then moved his hands away from Marco's arms and down to the hem of his shirt. As Derek began to lift Marco's shirt, Marco quickly moved his hands down to stop him, pushing his shirt back down.

Derek sighed, grabbing both of Marco's wrists in one of his larger hands and squeezing them tightly together, pushing them above Marco's head and causing Marco to wince in the pain it caused. Derek used his free hand to grab Marco's chin, forcing the smaller boy to look at him in the eyes, "am I going to have to tie your hands to something to get you to hold still?" he asked, his face only inches away from Marco's.

Marco stared up at him in horror. Derek had seemed like such a normal person when Marco had first encountered the older boy, but he was now being exposed for what he really was. Marco shook his head, "no," he managed to whimper.

Derek grinned, "good," he let go of Marco's wrists and moved his hands back down to Marco's shirt, pushing it up and running his hands up and down Marco's chest and sides. Marco shuddered, and closed his eyes tightly, trying to somehow will this to all be over. He had never let anyone other than Dylan touch him like this. Marco stayed still and didn't protest as Derek pulled his shirt over his head and threw it on the floor, leaving Marco's upper body entirely exposed.

While Marco remained relatively cooperative thus far, he wasn't going to allow Derek to go any further. Marco gasped and struggled intensely against Derek when he felt the older boy's hands trail from his chest down to the button on his jeans. "No!" Marco screamed as loud as he could manage, "Help me! Please!" he cried out before Derek slapped him again. Even after being hit, Marco wasn't going to give up this time, "Help!" he cried again before being silenced by a harsh punch to his abdomen, which seemed to knock every ounce of oxygen out of his lungs.

Marco struggled to catch his breath, with tears welling up in his eyes as he rolled onto his side and curled himself into a sort of ball, wrapping his own arms around himself. Derek quickly grabbed him and pulled him out of this position and back to his previously assumed position of laying on his back under a hovering Derek.

Derek moved to unbutton Marco's jeans as the smaller boy continued to try his hardest to breathe. Marco still hadn't caught his breath, but gave one last cry for help, however soft and pained it sounded, "Dylan, help me!" he called out in more of a whimper than a scream.

Derek didn't even bother hitting him this time, as Marco's pleas were becoming so soft no one would hear them even if they were right outside the door of his room. Tears silently flowed down Marco's cheeks, "please stop," he pleaded again, still fighting to regain his breath. He feebly moved his hands to try to hold Derek back, but while he could hardly breathe and his wrists ached where Derek had squeezed them together, it was more difficult than it should have been.

Ignoring Marco's plea again, Derek successfully unbuttoned Marco's pants and began to pull down the zipper.

**_xxxxxx_**

**_Oh yes. That's where I'm ending this chapter... O_O _**

**_I would appreciate reviews; constructive critisism is welcome. _**

**_I'll try to have the next chapter up for you soon. Thank you for choosing to read my fanfiction. :)_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hello. First off, thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. I love getting reviews so I'll know if I'm writing to everyone's liking. I really appreciate your comments. Just so you know, if you cannot figure it out by reading, the beginning of this chapter takes place at the same time as the first chapter, only it follows Dylan._**

**_Here you go:_**

**Chapter2**

Dylan most certainly loved Marco more than anything, but being away at University, he simply needed to see other people. Perhaps Marco could go days without any sort of intimacy, but Dylan simply could not. He knew Marco didn't really like the idea. He could tell by the upset look Marco had in his eyes when Dylan had suggested it. Nevertheless, he hoped Marco would go a little out of his comfort zone just this one time so they could both be happy. Dylan suggested that Marco see other people as well, and was almost proud of him when he saw him making conversation with a guy named Derek. He was proud of Marco for trying to meet other guys, but didn't like that Marco went off with said guy only moments after meeting him.

Dylan didn't know Derek very well. He had only spoken to the guy a few times, because he was a genius when it came to computers, and Dylan needed his computer fixed one day. Therefore, he didn't know if he could trust Derek with Marco. Certainly everything would be fine. Marco wouldn't let someone pressure him into doing something he didn't want to, right? Well, maybe he was a bit easy to persuade... Dylan would have to check on him in a few minutes.

At present, Dylan was talking to a guy on the University hockey team. Despite what Marco had probably assumed, this guy was not a romantic interest for Dylan. In fact, he wasn't even gay. He was just a friend.

"...because girls love hockey players," Dylan caught the end of his team mate's sentence.

"Everyone loves hockey players, Jon," Dylan laughed.

"True," Jon agreed, "so, practice is gonna be at five o'clock on tuesday in the main gym."

"Five o'clock in the afternoon?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah, in the afternoon!" Jon exclaimed, "Of course, man! I'm not getting up at five in the morning!"

"I have a class from four until six on tuesdays," Dylan complained.

"Well, leave class early," Jon suggested, "I'm sure you won't miss anything too important."

"I guess I could just one time," Dylan agreed, "we'll need to come up with a better time for practices in the future though."

"Of course," Jon smiled, "wouldn't want you to miss your class."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with caring about my marks," Dylan laughed, "what if hockey doesn't work out? Then I'll be glad I didn't skip classes."

"Come on, man," Jon insisted, "you know hockey will work out. You're the best on the team."

Dylan smiled at the compliment, "Thanks... well, I've got to go check on something, so I'll see you around, okay?"

"Alright. See ya at five on tuesday," Jon told him.

"See ya," Dylan walked away and made his way to the elevator. He knew the general location of Derek's room, but didn't know the exact room number for sure. Surely there would be someone else on that floor who could tell him. He could just knock on the door and pretend like he needed help with his computer again. That way, neither Derek nor Marco would even know why he was really there: to check on Marco.

Now that he was on the correct floor, he looked about for someone to tell him the correct room number. Unfortunately, it seemed everyone was down stairs at the party instead. He would have to reach back in his memory and figure this out on his own. He knew Derek's room was near that floor's washroom, so he walked toward that general vicinity and pondered the room numbers.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard what sounded like someone screaming something. He couldn't tell what they had said, but it certainly sounded eerily like Marco's voice did when the younger boy was frightened. He moved toward where he thought the sound had come from, hoping that the sound was just in his head. "Help me! Please!" Dylan heard clearly. That was definitely Marco's voice, "Help!" Dylan finally found the correct door and could hear nothing more than Marco's soft muffled voice now.

He grabbed the door's handle, glad that Derek had left it unlocked, and opened the door quickly. At the sight before him, Dylan's expression changed from concern to blazing anger within half a second. Derek was hovering over Marco, who was lying on the bed, with streaks of tears visible on his face. The smaller boy was breathing hard and almost seemed as though he was having a difficult time breathing at all.

It took Dylan no time at all to make his way over to Derek and Marco. He grabbed Derek roughly and pushed him against the wall, "what the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled, punching Derek just as hard as Derek had hit Marco.

Derek smirked, "hey, Marco came here on his own," he defended himself, "I didn't do anything he didn't want me to do... Jealous?"

Dylan's eyes filled with rage. He wanted to beat the hell out of Derek for that comment, but his attention was brought to Marco, when he heard a soft sob. He looked at Marco, who was still laying on the bed, but was now curling himself into a ball and also trying to stop himself from sobbing. Dylan looked back at Derek, "you make me sick," he spat, "get out of here," he added pushing Derek away.

"This is my room, Dylan," Derek smirked.

Dylan harshly shoved Derek against the wall again, "GET OUT!" he yelled again.

Derek frowned, knowing Dylan could probably win against him in a fight, "whatever. It's not my fault your little boyfriend can't handle-"

"GET OUT!" Dylan yelled again, pushing him harder than before.

Derek left without further protest. Dylan didn't know where he went, and he didn't care. He could deal with Derek later. Now he had something, or rather some_one_ more important to worry about: Marco.

Dylan sat down on the bed next to Marco, placing his hand gently on Marco's back. He wanted to hug Marco right then and there, but he wasn't sure if Marco would want him touching him. Dylan didn't know exactly what Derek had done, but he could see Marco's shirt was off and was quite relieved to see that while Marco seemed shaken, it didn't seem like the two of them had actually had sex, as Marco was still wearing his pants.

"Marco," Dylan began, "are you hurt?" he asked, needing first to make sure Derek hadn't injured Marco physically.

Marco slowly turned to face Dylan and proceeded to bury his face in Dylan's chest. At that point, he lost control over his sobs and began to cry inconsolably into Dylan's chest. Dylan wrapped his arms tightly around Marco, rubbing his back gently as the younger boy sobbed. After a minute or two Dylan noticed Marco was attempting to say something between sobs.

"I don't want to be here anymore, Dylan," he whimpered, "get me out of here."

"Okay," Dylan agreed, putting his hand under Marco's chin and tilting his face so he could look at his eyes, "did he hurt you Marco?" he asked again, not wanting to transport Marco if he was injured.

Marco hesitated but then shook his head, "no... just get me out of here," he repeated.

"Is it okay if we go to my room?" Dylan asked. He wasn't sure if being in any dorm room would make Marco uncomfortable or if he just wanted to be out of this one in particular.

Marco nodded.

Wrapping his arm around Marco's shoulders, Dylan led Marco to the elevator and up to his dorm room. When Dylan sat Marco down on his bed he noticed that he had forgotten to retrieve Marco's shirt before leaving Derek's room. As much as he didn't want Derek to have his boyfriend's shirt, Dylan also didn't want to leave Marco alone in order to go back and retrieve it. He decided he would get it back later.

Dylan looked Marco over. He could see hints of bruises starting to form on Marco's face and chest, and what looked like finger marks around his wrists and neck, "what did he do to you, Marco?" he asked gently, kneeling in front of Marco, needing assurance that Derek hadn't done anything more than he assumed. Marco's pants were still on, but Dylan now noticed they were unbuttoned and unzipped.

Marco inhaled a shaky breath, "I'm okay, Dylan," he managed, though Dylan could see he was far from okay.

Dylan sighed, "Marco... what happened? I can see something did, or else you wouldn't be crying," he decided not to mention the bruises.

Marco breathed in again, "I... I went up to his room... and we were kissing," he looked down as though he was ashamed of himself, "I changed my mind... and I told him to stop, but he wouldn't."

Marco seemed as though he was going to call the story finished there, but Dylan looked at him, silently asking him to elaborate.

"I told him... I said I didn't want to... and when he wouldn't stop, I tried to get away and I screamed for help, so he hit me... and he said..." Marco shuddered, "he said he was going to tie up my hands... so I would stop fighting... so I stopped struggling... but then... when he tried to... I couldn't just let him... so I tried to fight him off and I screamed and he hit me so hard I couldn't breathe... and then you came in."

"Oh, Marco," Dylan looked like he was ready to cry, "are you sure nothing is broken?"

Marco looked up at him, "I don't think anything is."

"What were you doing with him in the first place?" Dylan asked the question Marco had been trying to avoid explaining.

"I..." Marco began, "I was trying to make you jealous..."

"What? Why would you do that, Marco?" Dylan asked, now sounding more like a concerned older brother than anything else, "you can't just go off with people you don't know just to make someone else jealous."

"I know that!" Marco yelled, "and you shouldn't date a bunch of guys you don't know just because I'm not enough for you!"

"Marco, that's not the same thing," Dylan insisted, "It's not that you aren't enough, Marco. I love you, but being at University, I don't get to see you as often."

"Whatever. I don't want to talk about this," Marco told him, turning away from Dylan.

Dylan sighed. He hated seeing Marco upset; he wanted to discuss this matter and make everything better again, but he knew he should drop this subject as Marco requested, "I think I should take you to the hospital," he suggested. Even if nothing is broken, it's better to be safe, right?"

Marco shook his head, "I'm fine, Dylan," he insisted.

Marco watched with interest as Dylan stood and walked over to his wardrobe, opening the doors and sifting through his clothing. He pulled out a t-shirt and walked back over to Marco, handing him the garment.

"Thank you," Marco told him, taking the shirt and putting it on.

Dylan sat down on the bed next to him, looking him over again. Marco looked so small in Dylan's shirt. He still looked scared and Dylan wondered if he still was.

"You okay?" Dylan asked him.

Marco nodded, not saying anything.

Dylan wrapped his arm around Marco's shoulders and leaned back against the headboard of his bed, holding Marco as gently as possible. After a moment Dylan noticed Marco was trembling.

"Are you cold?" he asked, not knowing if the trembling was merely Marco's reaction to the slight chill in the air or to fright.

Marco didn't respond.

"Marco?" Dylan looked down at him. He was staring ahead as though he was thinking, "are you sure you're alright? I think I should take you to the hospital. Or to the police station. We can file a report against Derek. We should do it sooner rather than later."

Marco shook his head and Dylan felt him begin to shake even more.

"We can go tomorrow morning instead," Dylan compromised, "we have to go to the police station eventually though. We cannot just let him get away with what he did to you."

Marco breathed in shakily, still not looking at Dylan or speaking to him. Dylan could see his lip quivering as though he was trying hard to prevent himself from crying. Not knowing what to say, Dylan continued holding Marco until the younger boy finally choked out a pained sob.

"I was so scared, Dylan," Marco cried, letting Dylan hug him tightly.

"It's alright," Dylan assured him, "you're okay now. I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Dylan continued holding Marco for what seemed like hours. Marco's sobbing eventually died down. The younger boy seemed to have fallen asleep.

**_xxxxxx_**

**_I hope you liked Chapter2. I would appreciate more reviews, please, and I'll continue to work on this story and update soon._**

**_Thank you for reading._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Hi again, everyone. Thank you all for your reviews. I'm so glad you guys are still enjoying my story, and I hope you continue to feel positive toward it in the future. :) I really appreciate all of your reviews. They inspire me to want to write more. ^_^ It's a great feeling knowing that people actually like my writing._**

**Chapter3**

The following morning Dylan took Marco to the police station in order to file a report against Derek. After taking Marco's statement and listening to Dylan's supporting details, the police referred Marco to the hospital. He was told he would need to have photos taken of his bruises for a possible future court case. He and Dylan left and made their way to the hospital.

When Dylan parked the car and opened the door to get out, he noticed Marco didn't make any effort to do the same, "come on, Marco. I'll be with you, so you don't need to worry."

"I don't want to, Dylan," Marco told him, "why can't we just forget about this?"

"What if you change your mind, Marco? Why don't you just come inside with me and let the doctors take the photos as evidence, and if you still want to forget about this, you can, but if you decide later to press charges, you'll still be able to," Dylan suggested. He sighed and then continued, "Paige wanted to just forget too, but she changed her mind. If she would have gone to the hospital the outcome of the court case would have probably been different."

"But she was raped, Dylan," Marco reminded him, his voice soft, "I wasn't."

"I know, Marco, but he still assaulted you and he doesn't deserve to get away with it," Dylan persisted.

Marco shook his head but didn't say anything.

"What do you think he would have done if I hadn't come in when I did?" Dylan asked, raising his voice, as he was beginning to feel angry that Marco was just going to let Derek get away with this, "what's going to stop him from doing this to someone else whose boyfriend doesn't find him in time?"

Marco winced as Dylan's voice was beginning to turn into yelling. He knew Dylan wouldn't hurt him, yet he always felt somewhat frightened whenever someone yelled at him. He really did want Derek to be punished for what he did, but somehow he was both scared to see the doctor, as well as scared that Derek would be angry with him. What if he didn't go to prison? What if he was just angry that Marco told on him? What would he do then?

"Listen, Marco," Dylan lowered his voice when he saw Marco wincing at his tone. He did not want to make Marco feel any worse than he already did. Marco wasn't trying to be difficult. He was just scared, and Dylan knew he shouldn't yell at him for being afraid, "He deserves to pay for what he did. And if you really want to just let him get away with it, shouldn't you at least try to prevent him from doing this... or worse... to someone else?"

Marco sighed, "I guess so," he agreed. He really wanted to just go home, but he also knew that he had to make Derek suffer the consequences of his actions or else someone else might not be so lucky as Marco was. He shuddered to think what would have happened if Dylan hadn't come when he did.

Dylan smiled, "alright," he started, "I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think. They'll be really understanding in here, and I'll be with you the whole time."

Marco forced a smile and exited the car, walking side by side with Dylan up to the hospital's entrance.

Inside the hospital, the doctor had Marco tell her again what had occurred the previous night. She proceeded to instruct Marco to remove his shirt so she could take the necessary photos. Marco was grateful that all of the bruises he had received were on his upper body. It made the entire process much less frightening that he was only required to remove his shirt and not his pants as well. He was also grateful of Dylan's presence beside him the entire time.

_xxxxxx_

"Alright," the doctor said, handing Marco back his shirt, "I'll send the photos over to the police station, and they'll let you know what to do from there."

Marco nodded.

"Thank you, Doctor," Dylan said, taking Marco's arm and leading him out of the building.

When they made it back to Dylan's car, Marco was noticeably quiet.

"You okay?" Dylan asked.

Marco nodded. He sighed and then looked up at Dylan, "what do we do now?" he asked.

"Do you want me to take you home? I could explain to your parents where you've been all night, so you won't have to," Dylan offered.

Marco shook his head, "No," he said, "I'm not going to tell them. I can't tell my dad. Not only would be be ashamed of me for even considering being with a guy, but also I can't let him know I was stupid enough to go off with a guy I didn't even know."

Dylan frowned. He knew Marco was still afraid to tell his father that he was gay. He wished Marco could tell him, but he knew how scared Marco must have been of disappointing the judgmental man, "you aren't stupid, Marco. You were just having a bad moment. Everyone makes mistakes, but this wasn't your fault, okay? Maybe you made a bad choice going with Derek, but this is Derek's fault, not yours. You have to watch out for people like him, but you shouldn't have to. So don't feel ashamed. Just learn from your mistake."

Marco nodded, "I'm still not telling him. Or my mom. They don't need to know."

"Alright," Dylan didn't argue, "do you want me to take you home?"

Marco shook his head, "Can I stay with you?" he asked, looking up at Dylan.

Dylan hesitated, not sure if it was a good idea to take Marco back to the residence hall, "I guess so," he finally said, "you don't mind going back to my room do you?"

Marco shook his head, "it's fine with me," he told him.

The two of them went back to Dylan's dorm room. Dylan was surprised Marco wanted to go back to that residence hall, considering Derek lived in the same building. Either Marco didn't even consider it, or he really did feel completely safe with Dylan.

"I have to call my mom and make up some excuse as to where I've been," Marco told Dylan, "She won't mind if I say that I'm spending the night with someone for a couple days..."

Marco called his own house and waited for his mother to pick up, while Dylan half-listened to what Marco was saying. Marco had told her that he was staying all night at Joey's house, with his friend Craig. Dylan sighed. He wished Marco could muster up the courage to tell his parents the truth. He supposed the fact that Marco told his mother that he was gay was enough progress for now, however. He had seen the way Marco's father talked about disliking homosexuality and understood why Marco was reluctant to tell his father about his sexuality.

Marco hung up the phone and then looked up at Dylan, with a worried look in his eyes. He opened his mouth to begin to speak, but stopped himself.

"What is it, Marco?" Dylan asked, wondering what was bothering Marco now.

"This might seem odd to you," Marco began, "but will you wait outside the wash room while I take a shower?" he asked, "I don't want to be in there alone," he added, looking down as though he was embarrassed.

"Of course," Dylan agreed, fully understanding why Marco wouldn't want to be in a public shower all by himself after what had occurred in the same building the previous night, "here, let me find you something to wear really quick," he offered, sifting through the drawers in his room. He found some boxers and a t-shirt. They would be too big on Marco, but they would have to do.

They walked down the hall to the showers. Fortunately Derek lived on a different floor, so he would have no reasonable excuse for even being on this floor. Even so, Dylan kept a close watch on Marco, not wanting to take any risks. While Marco went into the shower, Dylan waited outside the door. It was about five o'clock in the afternoon, so most students were out of the building either at dinner or just out doing something fun.

"Dylan?" Marco called out from inside the shower.

"Yeah?" Dylan asked.

"I was just making sure you were still there," Marco replied.

Dylan sighed, "I'm not going anywhere, Marco, okay? You don't have to worry about that," he assured him. Marco seemed to assume that Dylan thought this entire exercise was ignorant, though really Dylan was guarding the shower door for two reasons: 1. Because he wanted Marco to feel safe, and 2. Because he didn't want to leave Marco alone again, as he really was concerned about his well-being.

Before long Marco was out of the shower and was drying himself off. While he got dressed, Dylan saw the bruises on his chest, which had been covered by clothing for a majority of the day. He had already seen the bruises, but they looked even worse now, as they were darkening before they healed. Seeing where Derek had hurt Marco made Dylan angry. Derek had no right to hurt him like that. Marco could hardly even have fought back. Not only was Derek wrong for having tried to force Marco to do something he didn't want to, but it wasn't even nearly a fair fight.

"What's wrong?" he heard Marco ask. Marco looked concerned since Dylan had been quietly thinking about how much he hated Derek and hadn't noticed that Marco had been trying to talk to him for the past minute or so.

Dylan shook his head, "it's nothing. I'm fine, Marco. How are you feeling?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Better," Marco told him, leading the way back to Dylan's room.

The two of them sat down on Dylan's bed silently, Dylan's arm wrapped around Marco's shoulders. Dylan didn't really know what he should say. It was too early to turn in for the night, but being in a tiny dorm room didn't leave much for them to do without going out. Marco appeared to be absorbed in his own thoughts, while Dylan thought about his and Marco's relationship.

He really loved Marco and regretted his suggestion of seeing other people. Sure, he wanted to have some intimacy while at University instead of having to wait to visit Marco, but after seeing Marco with Derek, not only was he upset that Marco was hurt, but he really did feel a hint of jealousy. Though Derek had tried to force himself on Marco in the end, the younger boy really had originally gone to Derek's room on his own. Marco had done exactly what Dylan had suggested, yet Dylan no longer felt fond of the idea when thinking about Marco being with another guy. He supposed it made him a hypocrite, but Dylan didn't want Marco to date other people.

Marco needed Dylan to look out for him. Dylan didn't like to think about it, but Marco really was easy to pressure into doing things he didn't want to and was not physically strong. Dylan wanted to be able to protect Marco from any danger he encountered, but if he let their relationship crumble out of his own selfish desires, who would look out for Marco then? Furthermore, though at the start of their relationship Dylan had only a bit of a crush on Marco, now that he had grown to know him, he had also grown to love him. Marco needed Dylan, but Dylan needed Marco just as much.

"I'm sorry for suggesting that we see other people," Dylan said, seemingly out of nowhere, causing Marco to look up at him, shaking himself out of his own thoughts, "I was wrong, Marco. I hope you can forgive me."

Marco looked skeptically at him, "Are you just saying that because you feel sorry for me? Because if you don't really mean it, just say so. I want you to be with me because you want to, not because you feel sorry for me."

"No," Dylan countered, "I really do mean it. I love you, Marco; you mean the world to me, and if you don't think we should see other people, then I'm okay with it. I should have talked to you about this instead of making the decision on my own. I'm so sorry."

Marco blinked a few times, as though he thought he might cry, "Do you really mean it?" he asked, still not sure if Dylan was sincere.

"Of course, Marco," Dylan assured him, "I don't know what I was thinking before."

Marco smiled and hugged him. He knew he had so much to worry about, but right now he didn't care about any of those things. He would still have to recover from the trauma Derek had caused him, and still had to worry about his dad finding out he was gay and possibly hating him for it, but none of that mattered at the moment. All he cared about was that Dylan was here now, and he wasn't going anywhere.

**_xxxxxx_**

**_I'll have you guys know that I've had up until this point written since the beginning, but didn't want to publish it all at once. Originally, this was going to be the end of the story, but I've decided to continue. At the moment I've got 4 more chapters done. I've just got to proof-read them before I publish them, and I don't want to publish them too fast. I like to have a few chapters written in advance so I won't fall behind and feel pressured to write and get writer's block. _**

**_So please review this one, and I'll work on writing more. I'll have the next chapter up sometime soon. :)  
Thank you very much for choosing to continue reading my story. ^_^_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, guys. First off, I must say I'm a bit disappointed that I only got one review for chapter 3... It wasn't _that_ bad, was it?? At any rate, thank you very much to _Acoustic Heart__, _my one and only reviewer of the previous chapter. This chapter is dedicated to you, since apparently you're the only person who is still reading. ^_^ I hope you like it:**

**xxxxxx**

**Chapter4**

Marco woke up, forgetting for a moment where he was or what day it was. His first thought was that he might have slept in too late and would be late for school. Then he realized that it was the weekend and he remembered that he wasn't even at his own house. He concluded that he and Dylan had fallen asleep accidentally while sitting together. He looked over at Dylan's alarm clock. It was only 9:15pm. They couldn't have been asleep long.

Marco was extremely thirsty. He and Dylan hadn't even had dinner before they fell asleep, nor had they had anything to drink. As much as Marco didn't want to drag himself out of bed, his dry mouth was preventing him from falling back to sleep. He looked over at Dylan who was sound asleep. As quietly as he could, Marco crept out of bed, not wanting to wake Dylan. He knew there was a common room at the end of the hall; surely someone had left paper cups in one of the cabinets, and wouldn't mind if Marco took one. He could quickly run down there, get a glass of water from the sink and come back.

He walked to the door and put his hand on the door knob, but before he opened it, he stopped himself. He knew Derek's room wasn't even on this floor, and the chances of running in to him even if he was on the same floor were slim, yet he was still nervous about going into the hall alone. He glanced back at Dylan, wondering if he should wake him up to have him accompany him to the common room.

Marco took a step back toward the bed and was just about ready to reach out and shake Dylan awake. He reached toward Dylan's shoulder, but stopped before his hand reached his boyfriend's arm. Marco sighed. He couldn't keep doing this. He was acting childish. How much longer would he need someone to babysit him twenty four hours a day? The police had probably already arrested Derek anyway. He was being irrational.

With a sigh, Marco made his way back over to the door and quietly opened it, glancing over his shoulder at Dylan one last time before he closed the door carefully. Now standing in the hallway, Marco had to convince himself to leave the safety of the vicinity of Dylan's room. To his right was a large window at the end of the hallway. Being near it actually made him more nervous, as he wondered if anyone outside could see him. He turned left and walked toward the common room, which was on the opposite side of the building. Each floor wasn't too large, so it wasn't a very long walk, yet the eerie silence mixed with Marco's already paranoid attitude made it seem so much longer than it was.

When Marco heard a slight noise behind him, he spun around quickly. No one was there. It had likely just been the wind; Marco was making this minor trek much more frightening than it should have been. As he walked more briskly, he thought he heard another noise. Just before he turned the corner, he turned around again to make sure no one was behind him.

He still saw no one in the hall, yet from the other direction he felt himself collide with someone, who grasped his arms, not too tightly, but tight enough to prevent him from falling over backwards from the impact of the two of them hitting each other. Marco gasped, pulling away from whomever had grabbed him as he turned back around to face the direction he had been walking, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process, "get off of me!" he cried out, hearing the fear and breathlessness in his own voice.

When Marco saw who was there, however, he felt embarrassed. His paranoid imagination had convinced him that it was Derek who had grabbed him, but it wasn't Derek who stood before him. In fact, he didn't know who the guy was. He had never seen him before. Not knowing what to say, Marco simply stood silently, looking up at the guy who looked down at him as though he were crazy.

"Sorry," the boy said, "I didn't see you. Are you alright?"

Marco sighed, "Yeah... uh... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have yelled... you- you just scared me."

"Hey, that's okay," the boy smiled. He then narrowed his eyes as he looked Marco over, "do you live on this floor?" he asked, "I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"Um," Marco began, still flustered from how frightened he had been a moment earlier, "Uh... no, I- Well, I'm just visiting my boyfr- my friend," Marco closed his eyes and exhaled stressfully. He didn't like to reveal that he was gay to people he didn't even know, or even to some people he did know for that matter, because he knew how some people reacted to it.

The boy standing in front of him smiled and laughed slightly, "What are you so nervous about?" he asked, clearly taking note of Marco's odd behaviour.

"Nothing..." he insisted, "I just... I don't like to tell people..." Marco stopped himself. Maybe this guy didn't even notice that Marco had almost said he was visiting his boyfriend.

"That you're gay?" the boy finished his sentence, "Don't be afraid to be who you are, okay? Some people are jerks, but lots of others aren't. I've got a few gay friends. I won't curse you or anything," he assured him, "don't worry about it."

Marco smiled a bit, "okay... thanks, I guess."

"Are you sure you're okay?" the guy asked, looking down at Marco's wrists, likely noticing the dark bruises circling them. Marco also remembered that his cheek had a noticeable bruise as well. He hoped this guy wouldn't assume Dylan did this to him, yet he really didn't want to talk about the event with a stranger. He didn't even want to talk to Dylan about it.

Marco looked down at his own wrists, trying to hide one of them with his opposite hand. He looked back up and nodded, forcing a smile, "Yeah. I'm fine. You just scared me, that's all."

He didn't look convinced, but he nodded, seeming to understand that Marco wasn't going to tell him about whatever had happened. Surely it was no surprise, as they didn't know each other anyway, "well, I guess I'll see you around then," he told him, "don't let the RA know you're staying the night though... if you are. I'm pretty sure that's against the rules."

"Thanks for the tip," Marco smiled.

The guy nodded and went on his way, turning and entering the washroom.

Marco breathed out and walked the short distance left to the common room. He was glad to have run into another student in the hall. He had been so nervous, and though initially their encounter had scared him, after speaking to him for a minute, he was much less frightened to be in the hallway alone. Seeing another student reminded him that the building was in fact a living establishment. There were lots of people there, not just Marco, Dylan, and Derek. The chances of him running in to Derek, of all people were pretty slim.

Marco walked over to a shelf unit above the counters in the common room. Among many other boxes and bags scattered on the shelves was a stack of paper cups, just as he had guessed. He took one and walked over to the sink, filling it and then sitting down at the table in the room. He took a drink of the water while he looked around the room. The common room had a lot of windows. He knew it shouldn't make him so nervous, but he couldn't help it.

He finished the water and threw the cup into the recycling bin. When he turned around to head back to Dylan's room, he nearly screamed. Standing in the doorway of the common room was Derek.

Whatever scream he wanted to emit was somehow caught in his throat. He wanted to scream to call attention to himself, yet he couldn't. He could only stand there, shocked and completely frightened as he stared at Derek, who stared just as silently back at him.

For a moment, neither of them moved and Marco questioned whether Derek was just a figment of his imagination. Perhaps he was so paranoid now that he was imagining that Derek was there. He blinked a few times, hoping that Derek was in fact not real and would no longer be standing there when he opened his eyes.

No such luck, however. Derek remained standing where he was, smiling gently. Had Marco not already been so scared of him, he might have even described Derek's current appearance as kind and approachable. At the moment, however, Marco wanted nothing less than to approach Derek. Marco didn't have to. Derek began walking toward him instead, as Marco slowly backed himself up, quickly bumping up against the wall, yet trying to back up further than was possible anyway.

"Hey, Marco," Derek greeted them as though they had been long-time friends.

Marco remained silent, not taking his eyes off of Derek who was within reaching distance of him now.

Derek reached up to Marco's cheek as Marco flinched, but didn't dare to move, "I'm sorry about what happened last night," Derek said running his fingers lightly over the bruise he had created on Marco's skin, "I just sort of felt cheated, you know? Like you were only using me. I was angry... I bet Dylan was jealous though, huh?" he laughed.

Marco frowned, but still didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure what Derek wanted. He didn't live on this floor. This encounter wasn't merely by chance. Derek had come here on purpose, which meant that the older boy knew Marco would be here. He knew Marco was staying with Dylan. It was just very unfortunate for Marco that he had chosen to walk into the common room just now. Or perhaps he had been lurking around just waiting for Marco to be in the hallway alone...

"Hey, you and I need to talk," Derek continued, grabbing Marco's arm and beginning to lead him away from the wall he had backed himself up against.

"We can talk right here," Marco finally squeaked. Since Derek was acting like they were friends, Marco thought he could do the same and perhaps prevent Derek from dragging him to his room. If they stayed in the common room, a public room, Derek would be less likely to hurt him in some way or another, which seemed like something he might want to do, considering how much he was acting like a stalker at the moment.

"Nah," Derek disagreed, "what if someone comes in? This needs to be a private conversation," he led Marco out of the common room, almost dragging him. Marco felt himself cowering down, trying to keep himself in the common room, but not wanting to actually fight against Derek, who was now holding both of his limp arms and half pushing, half nearly carrying Marco along with him.

"Wait!" Marco stammered, "just tell me what you want? Please... There's no one else here... just tell me what you-" Marco interrupted himself with a wince as Derek squeezed his already bruised wrists.

"Stop arguing with me, Marco," he ordered, "why are you always like this?"

Marco looked up at him, "why am I always like this... We just met! You don't know how I always am!" he protested, catching on to how completely ridiculous Derek sounded.

Derek stopped dragging Marco then, turning Marco to face him and slamming him roughly against the wall, holding him there by tightly grasping his wrists. Marco winced, regretting saying anything, but hoping someone would walk by and do something. Derek raised his fist as though he was going to hit Marco, but when Marco's breath hitched and he squeezed his eyes shut, the older boy lowered his hand, grabbing Marco's free wrist tightly and whispering very quietly, but very angrily into Marco's ear, "I'm not going to hit you, Marco, but you need to just listen to me, okay? I'm trying to talk to you, but you just keep arguing with me."

Marco opened his frightened eyes and looked into Derek's angry ones. He wasn't sure why, but Derek seemed to think they were in some sort of relationship. Perhaps he would listen to Marco if he played along.

"You're hurting me," Marco told him, his voice shaking slightly as he looked down at his wrists which were painfully grasped in Derek's hands.

Derek sighed, loosening his grip, "I'm sorry... you just make me so mad. Now come on. We're going up to my room. We have a lot to talk about," Derek informed him, his voice actually sounding more angry by the second.

Marco shook his head. He wanted nothing less than to go up to Derek's room, "Can't we just talk here? Please?" Marco didn't mean for his voice to come across as so desperate.

Derek tightened his grip on Marco's arms again, "why do you have to be so difficult?"

"Listen," Marco pleaded, "I'll take back the report I filed against you. I'll say I was lying and we can just forget about this, okay?" he offered, assuming that was what Derek had wanted so badly to talk about.

"Report?" Derek frowned, "you filed a report against me?"

For a moment Marco found himself unable to speak, not knowing how to undo the damage he had just done. Apparently Derek hadn't known about the report he filed, and he did not take this new information well, "I... um... Well... I did... but I'll take it back. I'm sorry!"

"I cannot believe you!" Derek yelled, so loudly Marco was certain he would have woken up anyone who was asleep in the dorms. He released one of Marco's arms and raised his hand up again as if he was going to hit him.

Marco took this opportunity to wriggle out of the grasp of his other hand. He sprinted as quickly as he could away from Derek and toward Dylan's room.

As he made his way down the hall, he could hear Derek's footfalls right behind him. It wasn't a long distance to Dylan's room; it was just down a short stretch of hallway, yet it was long enough for Derek to catch up with him, since the older boy was taller, with longer legs, allowing him to run faster.

After what seemed like an eternity, Marco reached Dylan's room, grabbing the door handle and turning it, while pushing the door inward to open it. At the same time, Derek caught up with him, grabbing him from behind with one hand and moving his other hand over to the door handle, placing it on top of Marco's own hand and pulling the door closed again loudly.

"Let go!" Marco yelled, trying to push the door open again, "get off of me!"

Derek was holding the door closed with much more strength than Marco had to push it open, which is why they were both caught by surprise when the door managed to swing inwards regardless. Marco fell forward, with his grip still tightly around the door's handle, while Derek let go and simply stood in the hallway, looking at Dylan who stood in the frame of the door.

Dylan looked at Marco who had fallen to his knees as the door was jerked open. He then looked to Derek, "What is going on here?" he demanded, roughly pushing Derek further into the hallway with one hand and gently pushing Marco further into the room with the other.

Derek didn't answer. He simply smiled and let out a sort of laugh, looking over Dylan's shoulder at Marco, who now stood speechlessly staring at the two of them.

"Call the police," Dylan instructed Marco, without taking his eyes off Derek.

**xxxxxx**

**Well, if the previous chapter didn't suck, this one certainly did... X_X Let me know what you think, please... If you think my writing sucks, let me know and maybe I can fix it... I cannot start writing better if no one tells me what I'm doing wrong... so please review; I would appreciate it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for the reviews, alerts, and favourites. I feel better now, knowing that people are still reading this. :) Here is chapter 5. I hope you like it:**

Chapter5

It wasn't long before the police showed up. While Dylan had prevented Derek from escaping before they arrived, Marco had gone into Dylan's room and conversed on the phone with the police, who had requested that he stay on the line until they got there. Now that they were here, however, they arrested Derek, leaving Dylan to come in and sit down on the bed beside Marco.

"The police want to talk to you," Dylan informed him. Then he began asking questions to satisfy his own inquiries, "Did he hurt you?"

Marco shook his head, "No. Not really."

Dylan continued looking down at the smaller boy, "are you sure?" he didn't want Marco to lie about this. Marco didn't like to appear weak, so he might be inclined to claim he wasn't hurt even if he was.

"I'm sure, Dylan," Marco looked directly into Dylan's eyes, "he just pushed me a few times and grabbed me sort of hard. Beyond bruises on top of bruises I already had, I doubt you'd even know anything happened. I'm fine... He mostly just scared me..." Marco looked like he was going to say more, but he stopped himself, averting his eyes from Dylan's.

Dylan didn't say anything for a moment as he watched Marco. Marco seemed to be thinking. Dylan wondered if he was going to say anything else. He wanted to give Marco room to say whatever he needed to say, yet one question was burning in Dylan's mind "why were you out in the hallway?" he finally asked.

Marco shook his head as though he felt ashamed of his own stupidity. He sighed and looked back up at Dylan, "I went to get a glass of water," he said simply. He looked down at his hands which were trembling slightly in his lap and then he looked back up at Dylan, narrowing his eyes, "you know... I had a bad feeling about going alone too... I almost woke you up... but I thought you would think I was being childish."

Dylan forced a small sympathetic smile, "don't be afraid to ask for my support, Marco. I'll always be here for you. If I had been awake, I wouldn't have let you go alone. I don't think you were childish to be afraid. If you ever need me, just let me know, because I want to be able to protect you."

"But I shouldn't have to be protected," Marco said, looking down again, "I'm in high school... I'm not a little kid. I should be able to walk down a hallway in a dorm by myself."

"You had a right to be scared, Marco," Dylan insisted, wanting Marco to not feel ashamed, "Anyone else in your place would have been just as afraid."

"You wouldn't have been," Marco told him, "because you can defend yourself."

"So can you, Marco," Dylan tried to give him some credit, "you managed to make it back to my room; Derek didn't take you right to my door, did he?"

"No," Marco responded.

"Maybe you aren't as physically strong as I am, but you're smart and know how to defend yourself by using your brain. You knew you needed to get back to my room, and you did just that," Dylan explained.

They both looked up as a police officer walked into the room, "could I have a moment with Mr. Del Rossi?" he asked.

Dylan nodded, "I'll be right out in the hall," he told Marco, who nodded in acknowledgment of what Dylan had said.

Although he would have rather not talked to the police, Marco knew he had to, and the officer was very kind to him, respecting his discomfort in talking about the subject at hand. He told the officer again what he had already told the police the day before, about what Derek had done in the first place. Then he went on to explain that Derek didn't even live on this floor, and had come seemingly specifically to find him and had tried to force him to go to his room, where who knows what he would have done.

The police man listened to Marco and then informed him of what he was supposed to do now regarding the incident. He told him that Derek was in custody for the time being until further investigation and that the officer would keep Marco informed about the possibility of court in the future. He gave Marco his business card and told him to call with any questions or concerns.

When Marco was through talking with the police man, he remained sitting on the bed, alone, until Dylan came back into the room.

"Dylan?" Marco caught his attention, looking up at his boyfriend. He hesitated for a moment and then continued, "what if my parents find out about all of this? What if my dad does? How will I explain it to him?"

"Just don't worry about it, okay? If he finds out, you can worry about it then." Dylan told him, feeling extremely sympathetic to Marco's predicament. While Marco should have been upset just because of what Derek had done, he had the added burden of trying to keep the whole ordeal hidden from his parents. If Marco had told his dad that he was gay a long time ago, this would have been easier, but Dylan couldn't expect Marco to tell him now. He could hardly imagine how Marco would explain both that he was gay and that he was sexually assaulted. His father would associate Marco's sexuality with the assault and would loathe homosexuality even more, "At any rate, surely he'd be more concerned about your well being than angry that you're gay, right?"

Marco inhaled tiredly, as though he had been thinking exactly what Dylan had been thinking just then, "I don't even know if he would, Dylan. I think he would actually hate me. My mom seemed upset when I told her... I can't imagine how my dad would react."

"I think we can manage to keep this a secret from him," Dylan told him, putting his arm around Marco's shoulders, "one day you'll be able to tell him that you're gay, but for now, I won't object to you waiting until you think he's ready to hear it."

Marco nodded and they were both silent for a few more minutes. Marco wondered if Derek would go to prison. Somehow he doubted Derek would be gone forever. He didn't kill anyone. He didn't even successfully rape anyone, so would he even be sent to prison? What would be the penalty of committing sexual assault and apparently stalking someone? Marco frowned. What if Derek was back at the college within weeks?

"This is all going to wear off, Marco," Dylan said, "I know it's hard now. I remember that Paige had a really difficult time for a while when she was raped... but she didn't even tell me at first... anyway, her rapist didn't even go to jail, but she has put the past behind her, and eventually you'll be able to do the same."

"It's different, Dylan," Marco protested, "Derek might actually track me down if he doesn't go to jail. He might actually find me... and who knows what he will do? Paige was angry that he got away with it... but she didn't have to feel scared that he would find her and do it again. He has a different personality than Derek... Derek is completely crazy... who knows what he'll do?"

"Do you think he would dare?" Dylan asked, "you'll have a restraining order against him. He'll know that the cops already know what he has done in the past. If he goes after you again, he'll be in prison for sure, and he'll know that likelihood."

Marco sighed heavily, "I just want to forget about all of this," he said, closing his eyes and leaning against Dylan, who kept a strong arm around Marco's shoulders, "but I don't know if I'll ever be able to."

"I don't know what will happen to Derek, but remember that he is in police custody now, so you have no reason to be afraid. You need to try to live your life, Marco. Don't let him make you feel scared, okay? He cannot do anything to you," Dylan assured him.

Marco nodded, "I know," he agreed, sounding tired.

"Maybe you should try to get some sleep, okay?" Dylan suggested, "you sound pretty tired... I'll be right next to you all night."

Marco smiled, "thank you for being here, Dylan."

Dylan nodded, though Marco couldn't see his gesture, as his eyes were closed. They sat together silently until they had both fallen asleep.

_**xxxxxx**_

_**I could easily end the story right here, but I'm not going to. In the next chapter, Marco goes back to Degrassi... That means there won't be as much Dylan for a while... I hope no one is too heart-broken. I love Dylan, but Marco can't keep living in his dorm room forever...**_

_**I'd love for you to review, please. ^_^**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's note: I know I said the only Degrassi characters in this story would be Dylan and Marco, but the story was also originally going to stop at Chapter 3 too. I had actually had up to Chapter 3 already written but not proofread before I posted any of this, but I decided to write more, because I hadn't ever written a Degrassi story and I'm really enjoying writing this one... because I love Marco and Dylan so much...** _

_**At any rate, I've decided to keep going, and as it turns out, some other Degrassi characters appear in this chapter. Marco and Dylan are still the main characters of the story as a whole, of course (especially Marco) but I hope none of you mind a few other characters sneaking in... I wrote part of this chapter with a sort of Craig-focus, but it's mostly just his concerns about Marco... (there is also a bit at the end that is more of a Dylan-focus, if you cannot figure that out on your own. ^_^)**_

**Chapter6**

Before Marco knew it, the weekend was over and as much as he would have liked to keep staying over with Dylan every night, he knew he would have to start staying at his own house again. While his parents didn't mind him staying with friends a few times in a row, they didn't like not seeing their son for days and days at a time.

When Marco had gone back home on sunday afternoon, he made sure to wear long sleeved shirts, so the bruises on his wrists wouldn't be visible. He did not want to try to make up an excuse to his parents about where the bruises had come from. The bruise on his cheek was actually darker than it had been the previous few days. Marco knew that bruises usually got darker as they heeled, but he wished this particular bruise would have healed much faster. He hoped neither of his parents would mention it, but it was actually one of the first things his mother asked him when he returned home.

He had lied to her, saying he got hit with a volleyball in gym class when he wasn't paying attention, and fortunately she bought the excuse. As he kept long shirts covering his arms, no more questions about his unknown injuries were asked and he went to school the next morning, trying his best to act as though nothing at all had happened.

Marco went about his day without any snags up until gym class. The gym uniforms consisted of a t-shirt and shorts. Marco put on the shorts as he normally would, but he knew the t-shirt would reveal very dark bruises on his wrists, and he didn't even want to think about how many questioning eyes would notice them. Coach Armstrong hopefully wouldn't notice, or maybe wouldn't mind if he wore a long sleeved shirt under his gym shirt. He pulled the t-shirt on over the shirt he was already wearing, exited the locker room, and waited for class to begin.

_xxxxxx_

Craig hadn't seen Marco since friday night. They had gone to the party at Dylan's university together, but later in the night Craig couldn't seem to find Marco. He assumed Marco had patched things up with Dylan, whom he also couldn't find, so he simply went home. Looking back, he felt he probably should have tried to call Marco to make sure he had a way to get back home, but apparently he managed to make it home safely, as he was in gym class now.

"Hey, Marco," Craig greeted him, walking up to the shorter boy, "how did things go on friday night? Did you make up with Dylan?"

"Uh... yeah," Marco responded, seeming somewhat unsure of his own answer, "everything's fine... He apologized for suggesting that we see other people."

"Good," Craig smiled. He had felt rather bad for Marco when he saw how upset he had been about Dylan cheating on him, but now he was happy for his friend. He hoped Dylan wouldn't do anything like that again. Marco didn't deserve to be lied to. Craig narrowed his eyes as he noticed a rather dark bruise on Marco's cheek. He wondered why it took him this long to see it. He considered if he should just ignore it, but he also felt a strong urge to know what had happened, "Marco?" he began.

"Yeah?" Marco looked up at him, the tone in his voice revealing that he had been lost in thought.

"What happened?" Craig asked, running his index finger over his own jaw line in order to imply what he was talking about without actually saying it.

Marco looked confused at first and then realized what Craig was referring to. He raised his hand up to his cheek, "Oh... um... nothing," he hadn't thought of an excuse to tell Craig. He couldn't use the volleyball excuse, because Craig knew they weren't playing volleyball in gym class, "it was... um... I was moving boxes... uh... out of my closet, and one fell and hit me," he lied.

Craig nodded. He wasn't sure if he believed Marco. His words were spaced and uncertain as though he was making up the incident rather than recalling it from actual events. Nevertheless, he didn't press the matter any further.

"Mr. Del Rossi," they both turned toward Coach Armstrong who was walking toward them, "you need to wear your uniform correctly, please."

"Um... couldn't I wear it this way for just today?" Marco protested, "It's sort of cold in here."

"Well, it won't be once you get moving," Armstrong assured him, "rules are rules, Marco. You cannot wear the undershirt in gym class. It's the policy, and I have to make sure everyone follows it. You won't be counted late, so don't worry. Just go back down and change," Armstrong smiled in order to show Marco that he wasn't angry with him.

Craig looked at Marco, who seemed conflicted. He wondered why Marco was so persistent about this.

"What will it hurt if I just wear it?" Marco asked, desperate to bend the rules for some reason.

"It's just the policy," Armstrong seemed to be getting a bit agitated, "why are you arguing with me about this, Marco?"

Craig noticed that Marco looked almost frightened. Sure, Armstrong had raised his voice, but everyone knew the coach was friendly and wouldn't ever get angry enough to make anyone really feel threatened.

"I think I'll just sit out today," Marco informed him, "I don't feel well."

"Marco," Armstrong could seemingly tell that Marco was just making up excuses now. It wasn't apparent why Marco insisted on wearing the long sleeved shirt, but for some reason he did, and the coach doubted that it was because he felt sick, "is there something wrong?"

Marco shook his head, "no. I just... I think I have a fever or something... that must be why I'm cold."

Armstrong sighed, "well, go see the nurse then," he instructed, "and Marco, I know this is very unlike you, but don't make a habit of skipping class, okay?"

Marco nodded and walked back down into the locker room to change.

Craig was now thoroughly confused. Marco hadn't seemed sick to him. Craig had seen Marco when he was sick, and he had seen him when he was well, and besides for Marco seeming a bit nervous, he didn't really seem sick. His thoughts were then taken back to the bruise on Marco's cheek and how he seemed to be lying about how he had received it.

"Coach?" Craig asked.

Coach Armstrong turned to face him, "hm?"

"Could I make sure Marco makes it to the nurse alright?" he asked, "he seems sort of upset. I just want to make sure he's okay."

"Sure," Armstrong agreed.

Craig made his way down to the locker room where he saw Marco had taken off his t-shirt, but still had on the long-sleeved shirt which had been underneath it.

"Marco, what's wrong?" Craig asked, hoping Marco would tell him what he was so nervous about without Craig having to ask too many questions.

Marco shook his head, "nothing," he assured him, "I just don't feel well, okay?"

Craig walked up to Marco and looked down at him. He looked upset. While looking down at him, Craig noticed something else he hadn't seen earlier. Under the collar of Marco's shirt were even more bruises. They were partially hidden by the collar of the shirt, but now Craig could clearly see that they looked almost like finger-marks around Marco's neck. Craig was about to say something when a few other students walked into the locker room. Since he didn't want their conversation to be heard by anyone else, Craig took Marco's arm and gently pushed him around the corner.

As he did this, he noticed Marco's eyes widen, almost as though he was frightened of him. From what Craig was noticing about Marco's reaction to certain events and the bruises on his face and neck, he wondered if someone had been abusing him. The younger boy certainly seemed more defensive than usual and was more easily frightened as well. Perhaps there were even more bruises under his sleeves. That would be a reason to want to keep the shirt on...

Keeping his hands lightly on Marco's arms, Craig asked Marco again, "I mean it, Marco. What's wrong? You can talk to me."

Marco shook his head, "nothing is wrong, Craig!"

Craig sighed. He knew Marco would probably be angry with him for doing what he was about to do, but he simply needed to see if his suspicions were correct. He grabbed Marco's hand quickly with one hand and pulled up his sleeve with the other while Marco gasped and tried to pull away from him. Craig did the same with Marco's other arm, revealing dark bruises around both of Marco's wrists.

"Get off of me!" Marco yelled, pulling away from Craig's grasp and pushing his sleeves back down.

"I'm sorry, Marco," Craig sincerely apologized, the bruises on Marco's wrists were startling. He had suspected that they would be there, but to actually see them on Marco made him feel awful and actually took his breath away, as well as his ability to speak for a moment. Marco had pulled his sleeves back over the marks, but Craig still knew they were there. What was even more unsettling was that these bruises, like the ones on his neck looked like finger-marks as well, as if someone had grabbed his wrists very hard, "I'm sorry," he repeated when he saw Marco was still looking up at him as though Craig had caused the bruises. His eyes looked almost scared, and betrayed, "I shouldn't have done that... but I had to know... Will you tell me who did this to you? Was it Dylan?"

Marco frowned, "Dylan would never hurt me, Craig." He seemed more upset by Craig's questioning of Dylan's involvement than by the fact that someone had actually caused the dark bruises. Craig wondered how many more bruises Marco had that he couldn't see.

"Who did then?" Craig asked. He knew how difficult it would be for Marco to admit if someone was abusing him, since Craig had gone through a similar situation with his father, yet he also desperately wanted to get Marco to tell him what was happening so that it could be prevented in the future, "was it your dad?" he asked, thinking possibly that Marco had come out to his father and his father hadn't taken it well.

Marco shook his head, "please just drop it, Craig," he pleaded, "I've got everything completely under control, okay?"

Craig sighed, "will you just tell me what happened?" he asked, not wanting Marco to go back to whomever was doing this to him, "I won't tell anyone."

"Craig," Marco looked up at him, "please just drop it. It's taken care of, okay? You don't have to worry about me."

Craig frowned, "but I _am_ worried about you, Marco," he knew Marco probably wasn't going to tell him who did this, and he hoped Marco wasn't lying when he said the problem was taken care of, "just promise you won't go back to whomever did this."

"I won't," Marco assured him. He turned and left, leaving his bag down in the locker room.

Craig almost yelled to him that he had forgotten his bag, but decided against it instead. He walked over to the bag and sifted through it's contents until he found Marco's cell phone. He knew Marco wouldn't like him to, but he decided to call Dylan. Surely Marco would have told Dylan what happened to him, and maybe Dylan could fill him in as well.

He found Dylan's name on the contact list of Marco's phone and dialed his number.

The way Dylan answered the phone was almost startling, and definitely made Craig think Dylan knew what had happened, "what's wrong, Marco?" he asked, his voice worried.

At first Craig didn't know what he should say. He thought about hanging the phone up right then, but Dylan continued talking when Craig didn't say anything.

"Marco, what is it?" Dylan asked, sounding even more worried now.

"Dylan," Craig finally forced himself to speak. Before he could say anything more, Dylan cut him off.

"Craig? Where's Marco? Is he okay?" Dylan asked.

"He's fine, Dylan," Craig informed him, "or at least I hope he is. That's what I was calling you about... He's been acting kind of weird... and I noticed a few bruises, but he won't tell me where they came from. What happened to him?"

_xxxxxx_

Dylan wasn't sure if he should tell Craig what had happened. On the one hand, Marco would probably not want everyone to know. On the other hand, Craig was Marco's friend and was worried about him. Dylan sighed, "Promise not to tell him I told you..."

"Sure," Craig agreed, "I just need to know what happened."

"On friday night he got into a bit of an argument... sort of... with a guy from my school," Dylan remained vague on purpose. He wanted Craig to know that the person who hurt Marco had been arrested, but didn't want to mention too many details, "and then saturday he ran into the guy again in the hallway. That's all. We called the police and the guy got arrested. So everything is going to be fine."

"What was the fight about?" Craig asked, sounding shocked that Marco would have managed to get into a physical fight with someone.

"It's not important," Dylan told him, not wanting to tell Craig what exactly had transpired. He knew Marco wouldn't like Craig to know every detail, and he hoped Marco wouldn't mind too much that he had told Craig even this much, "all you need to know is that it wasn't Marco's fault. The other guy was wrong. In fact, I don't think Marco even hit him back... So don't think that Marco started it or anything..."

"So some guy just hit Marco for no reason? And then found him in the hallway later? His wrists are both bruised, Dylan. Like someone grabbed him really hard," Craig persisted.

"Craig, you are just going to have to ask Marco... I don't think I should tell you if he doesn't want you to know," Dylan told him. He didn't want to tell Craig that Marco had gone off with a guy he didn't even know just to make Dylan jealous. He knew Marco probably wouldn't want anyone to know that detail. He also assumed Marco probably wouldn't want Dylan to tell everyone that he was nearly raped. If he wanted Craig to know, he could tell him on his own.

Dylan heard Craig sigh on the other end of the phone, "Alright..." he agreed.

"Don't be angry with him though, okay?" Dylan urged, "if he doesn't want to tell you, don't get mad."

"I won't," Craig agreed, "I just want to understand what he's going through. He seems upset, and I want to be here for him... He's my friend, Dylan."

"I know that," Dylan told him, "I just don't know if he wants to talk about it. Don't force it out of him," Dylan hoped Craig wouldn't be too invasive of Marco's privacy. He knew Marco felt a degree of shame about what had happened to him and he hoped Craig would respect that Marco may not want to tell him, "just let him tell you when he's ready to talk about it, okay? That's all I'm going to say."

**_xxxxxx_**

**_Okay, guys. Please please review. I was a bit worried about posting this chapter, since Dylan is hardly in it and Craig is... I hope you guys still like it. The next chapter will be back in a Marco-centered 3rd person point of view. I just wasn't sure if you guys would like the Craig-focus part... So please review and let me know if you liked this chapter... _**

**_Thank you for reading._**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Yikes... I'm so sorry for taking almost a year to update this... I had written a couple chapters ahead and have had them saved on my computer this whole time... I just wasn't sure if they were any good... I guess I'll just post what I have, and if you hate it, maybe I'll try again... A few people seem to like this story, so I might as well let my already written chapters be seen... Maybe you'll like them. _**

**_Here you go:  
_**

_**xxxxxx**_

**Chapter7**

Marco sighed as he stood in an alleyway near the school. He had already received enough intrigued stares throughout the day from people who noticed the bruise on his face, but now Craig knew even more than everyone else did, since he saw Marco's arms as well. He didn't want to go back into the school and face more questioning eyes... or actual questions.

He was fairly certain that Craig would keep wondering what was going on until he told him. While Marco didn't really want to talk about what had happened, he also didn't want Craig to think that Dylan was responsible, so he figured he should probably just tell Craig so as to keep Dylan from looking horrible in Craig's eyes. Craig would understand the importance of secrecy, and certainly wouldn't repeat anything Marco told him, so it wouldn't be entirely a huge deal to just tell him.

"Marco?" Marco was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Spinner's confused , questioning tone.

Marco turned around to see Spinner walking toward him. His facial expression was just as confused as his words had sounded.

"What are you doing out here?" Spinner asked, "are you skipping class!" Spinner looked like he was about ready to laugh, but apparently Marco didn't look so amused, as Spinner's smirk was quickly replaced with a frown, "is everything okay, Marco?"

Marco forced himself to smile. He didn't want anyone else asking him what was wrong, "I'm fine, Spin," he lied, "I just didn't feel like going to gym class today. That's all."

"Really?" Spinner still looked and sounded completely confused.

"Yeah," Marco said, "really."

Spinner shook his head as though he was ridding himself of some confusion, "sorry... it just doesn't seem like you."

Marco smiled for real this time, "I'm capable of skipping class too," he assured him, "you wanna go to lunch early?" he suggested. Marco normally didn't have lunch until an hour from now. He didn't even bother asking what Spinner was doing hanging outside the school he had been expelled from... He was just glad to have a distraction from his thoughts.

"Sure," Spinner agreed, still looking confused. He seemed unable to believe that Marco would disobey any school rules, "did one of the teachers piss you off or something?"

Marco laughed, "not really."

"Not really? Sort of then?" Spinner asked, "what did they do? Who was it?"

"Well... Armstrong wouldn't let me wear my long-sleeved shirt under my gym shirt," Marco told him the truth, "So I told him I was sick and he said I could go to the nurse's office."

"Why would you want to wear it anyway?" Spinner asked.

Marco sighed, "it doesn't matter, Spin," he began, "the point is that it is a stupid rule. Do you think I cared if I got to wear it? I don't care. I was just trying to prove a point that the rule is stupid," he convincingly lied.

Spinner laughed, shaking his head as though he felt Marco had gone off the deep end "let's go to lunch then..."

_xxxxxx_

Marco and Spinner ended up at The Dot, which had very few customers at the time, since it's main weekday business was during the high school lunch hour.

"I still can't believe you're skipping class," Spinner laughed as they waited for their order.

"It's gym class, Spin," Marco reminded him, "it isn't like it really matters anyway. Missing one day of gym class isn't going to ruin my high school career."

"True," Spinner agreed. He looked at Marco for a moment. Marco could tell he was wondering about the bruise on his cheek, but didn't want to say anything. Since he knew Spinner would keep wondering until Marco told him, Marco decided to make up a lie to get it out of the way.

"I was cleaning boxes out of my closet and one fell on me," Marco laughed, trying to convince Spinner that his lie was the truth, "you should have seen me. Who knew the corner of a box could do that much damage, huh?"

"It doesn't look that bad," Spinner assured him. He looked at him for a moment longer and then let out a slight laugh, "what was in the box anyway, bricks?"

Marco smiled. He knew Spinner would feel guilty for laughing if he knew where the bruise really came from, but for now he was simply glad that he could have a normal conversation without being asked tons of questions about what had happened, "books," he answered.

Spinner laughed again, "well, that makes sense..."

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Marco asked, changing the subject.

Spinner sighed, "nothing really."

"What are you going to do after lunch?" Marco asked, not wanting to have to go back to school, but not wanting to go home either. He could always go back to Dylan's school, but Dylan was probably in class, and he didn't want to take the public transportation system all the way there either.

"I don't know," Spinner replied, "why, are you gonna skip the rest of the day too?"

Marco shrugged, "why not? Everyone else does."

"Yeah... and then everyone else fails classes and has to repeat them," Spinner reminded him, "I mean, I don't care if you don't, but I thought you sort of cared about your marks in class..."

"Well, I just want to skip this one time," Marco told him, "what will that hurt?"

"Whatever, dude," Spinner agreed, "I don't care what you do. I was just reminding you that you're not acting like yourself... If you wanna skip that badly, I'll hang out with you. It's not like I have anything else to do. I can't go to school because I'm expelled. Jimmy... and everyone else hates me... so I can't hang out with them."

"Well..." Marco now felt sorry for Spinner. What Spinner had done was stupid and cruel, but the results were far worse than Spinner had intended, "I'm sure he'll forgive you someday."

"Will he, Marco? I got him shot," Spinner reminded him

"Not on purpose... You made a mistake," Marco defended his friend from himself, "a pretty bad mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. You're a good friend, Spin. Jimmy will remember that one day."

"I'm not really a very good friend, Marco... you of all people should know that," now Spinner seemed depressed.

Marco sighed. He didn't like seeing his friend upset, but at least this time all the focus was off of Marco and on someone else's problems, "yes you are," he insisted, "you just made some mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. I've made mistakes too."

"My mistakes got my friend shot. And then with you... I made you feel unwelcome... so you walked alone to the hockey game... I guess that was my fault too," Spinner frowned, "I don't think there is anyone at Degrassi who _shouldn't_ be pissed at me."

"Spinner, that wasn't your fault... the guys in the park, I mean," Marco told him, "it was unfortunate that those guys and I happened to be in the same place at the wrong time..."

"Yeah... but you wouldn't have been there if I hadn't acted like a jerk," Spinner insisted.

Marco sighed again, "I know that you wouldn't have let me walk through the park alone if you had known, okay? It's not your fault. It's just an indirect relation. You can't blame yourself for everything. And as for Jimmy, I think you just need to give him time. The joke you played on Rick was cruel and stupid, but you didn't know it would end up resulting in Jimmy getting shot. Someday he'll see that while you made a mistake, you've learned from it, and you really are a good friend."

Spinner sighed, "thanks, Marco."

Marco smiled, "no problem."

"I'll pay the cheque this time," Spinner offered.

Marco nodded, "good thing you offered... I just remembered I left my bag in the locker room. It has my money in it."

"Do you need to go back and get it?" Spinner asked, "I can drive you over."

Marco didn't want to go back, for fear that Armstrong would see him and wonder why he never went to the nurse's office like he was supposed to, "could I just use your phone instead? Maybe someone picked up my bag for me. It had my phone in it. If I call it, they might answer and I can have them give it back to me tomorrow."

"Sure," Spinner agreed, pulling out his cell phone and handing it to Marco.

"Thanks," Marco took the phone and dialed his own number, waiting for someone to answer. The school's lunch break should have started by now, so hopefully whomever had picked up his bag... if anyone had... would answer the phone.

"Hello?" Marco heard Craig's voice.

"Hey, Craig," he said, glad that a teacher or office secretary hadn't answered.

"Marco? Why are you calling from Spinner's phone? And where have you been?" Craig sounded concerned, "you never came back to class."

"I'm fine, Craig," Marco laughed, "I was just wondering if anyone had picked up my bag, since I forgot it in the locker room... and I guess you picked it up. Could you hold onto it until tomorrow for me? You can give it back to me during class?" he suggested.

"How about I drop it off at your house?" Craig offered, "Aren't you coming back after lunch? Are you actually skipping the rest of the day?"

Marco sighed, "am I really that predicable? Why is everyone so shocked that I would skip a day. Everyone else does it."

"Yeah, everyone else _does_ skip class," Craig agreed, "but _you_ don't."

"Well, you can't say that now," Marco laughed, "don't bother dropping it by. I'll just come over to Joey's house a while after school lets out and pick it up, if you'll be there."

"Sure," Craig replied, "I'll be there as soon as I make my way there from school."

"Alright. See ya," Marco ended the call and handed Spinner's phone back to him. He knew he would have to talk to Craig sooner or later, so he figured he might as well do it in the privacy of Joey's house instead of too close to eavesdropping ears at Degrassi.

_**xxxxxx**_

_**(I'm pretty sure Marco wasn't getting along with Spinner at the time of the Moonlight Desires episode, since it was rather soon after Spinner told Jimmy that he sort of caused Rick to shoot him and then everyone was angry with Spinner... but we'll say Marco and Spinner patched things up a bit sooner than originally for the sake of this story, okay?)**_

_**and was Craig still living with Joey at this point in the show? I'm not sure, but we'll pretend he is even if he isn't, okay? :)**_

_**I'll post the next chapter soon. All I need to do is proof-read it. ^_^ Please review.  
**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter8**_

Spinner finally convinced Marco to go home around six o' clock. It wasn't quite dark yet, but it definitely would be soon, and Spinner didn't think Marco would want to be walking all over the city all alone at night. He had reminded Marco that he was supposed to be going to Craig's house to pick up his bag about an hour before six, but it took Marco a while of putting it off before he agreed to finally meet up with Craig. While Marco was actually avoiding his meeting with Craig on purpose, he knew Craig would probably be pretty angry if he showed up any more late than he already would be.

Marco thanked Spinner for taking time to hang out with him, and headed over to Joey's house. Spinner had offered to give him a ride, but Marco actually wanted time to think before getting there, so he declined the offer and walked instead. The entire time he was walking, he tried to think of a convincing lie to tell Craig about what had happened. He couldn't think of anything that didn't seem too far-fetched, but it made him think that he probably should just tell Craig the truth. While he didn't want word to get around Degrassi and possibly back to his parents, he knew he could trust Craig not to tell anyone. Craig was his loyal friend; Marco didn't have to worry about him spreading gossip.

Marco walked up the front stairs of Joey's house and knocked on the door. After only a few seconds Joey opened the door and smiled at him, "oh, hey, Marco," he greeted him, "Craig's up in his room."

"Thank you," Marco smiled back. He walked passed Joey and up the stairs leading to Craig's room.

Craig's door was open, but Marco saw that his friend was presently sitting on his bed writing in a notebook. He wasn't paying attention, and didn't see Marco. Marco didn't want to simply walk in, so he knocked on the door frame to catch Craig's attention.

"Marco!" Craig smiled, "I thought you were going to bail on me," he stood up and walked over to his desk, where Marco's bag lay. He picked it up and handed it to Marco, "do you want to stay for a while? I was just writing a song."

Marco nodded. He sat down on Craig's desk chair and looked at Craig who sat back down on his bed. For a moment the two were silent. Marco sighed, "Craig?"

"Yeah?" Craig looked up from his notebook where he had resumed writing.

"I think I should tell you what happened... just so you'll know and not make any incorrect assumptions," Marco told him, "you are my friend... so I can trust you not to tell anyone."

"Of course!" Craig exclaimed, "but listen, Marco... Don't feel like I'm forcing you to tell me, okay? If you don't want to tell me yet, I'll understand. I shouldn't have tried to force it out of you earlier."

"It's okay, Craig," Marco assured him, "you should know. You already know _something_ happened, so you might as well know what it was."

"Alright," Craig agreed, standing and walking over to the door and shutting it, "I promise I won't tell a soul."

Marco smiled slightly. He inhaled deeply and then began his story, "Okay... at the party the other night... you know that Dylan was seeing other guys, and I was really mad, right?"

"Yeah," Craig said.

"Well, I was mad, so I told him to stop seeing other people. He wouldn't agree to that and he told me I should see other people too. I was so mad, Craig... and I wanted to make him feel as bad as I did- I wanted to make him jealous... So I found a guy standing in the corner," Marco closed his eyes and breathed in and then continued, "I started talking to him and I decided I would go back to his room to make Dylan jealous... I only wanted Dylan to see us leave together. I didn't even really want to be there. I just wanted Dylan to be jealous..."

Craig's eyes were wide as his full attention was focused on Marco's story. His eyes showed that he wanted to ask an assortment of questions all at once, but he didn't interrupt.

"So he started kissing me... which I didn't really like, but I was going to just let him, so he wouldn't be mad that I led him to believe I was interested when I really wasn't... but he started getting too rough, so I told him that I wanted to leave... but he wouldn't let me go. I told him 'No,' but he held me down and hit me when I tried to get away," Marco told him.

Craig fully intended on keeping his own mouth shut until Marco was finished with the explanation, but now Marco had stopped his story before it seemed finished. Craig saw that his friend's lip was quivering as he tried to keep his composure, "Marco... did he..." Craig hesitated, "Did he rape you?" Craig didn't want to say it, but he had to know.

Marco shook his head. Tears were now silently flowing down his cheeks, "No... but I really think he would have... Dylan found me... I was yelling for help, but Derek hit me every time I said anything... I guess Dylan heard me... and he found me just in time."

"But the guy got arrested, right?" Craig asked, sounding extremely concerned for his friend.

"Yeah," Marco told him, "but not immediately. I went to the police the next day, with Dylan, and I guess they never arrested him... maybe they couldn't find him-I don't know... Because later that night when I was in the common room at Dylan's dorm he found me. He said he wanted to talk to me and was trying to force me to go to his room... I didn't know what he would do, so I ran to Dylan's room and we called the police. They arrested him... but Craig?" Marco paused as though he wasn't sure of what to say.

"Yeah?" Craig looked at him.

Marco sighed, "I still feel scared... I mean, I know he's in jail... or in police custody or wherever they took him... but I still feel afraid for some reason."

"That's perfectly normal," Craig told him, "you know... I never told you this, but when my dad was alive, he used to beat me. He'd get angry really easily if I did something he didn't like, and he'd hit me. That's why I lived here with Joey even before my dad died. I'm sure you may have heard through rumours at school..."

"I did hear rumours," Marco's quiet voice informed him, "I just didn't think they were true."

"Well... even when I got away from him and moved in with Joey, I still felt nervous sometimes... I knew he couldn't do anything. He wasn't even anywhere near me, but I still felt afraid sometimes and I didn't even have a reason to be. So you aren't alone... It'll get better though," Craig told him, "he can't hurt you anymore, Marco, but it's okay to still feel a little uneasy sometimes. You just have to try to get your life back to normal and show yourself that one guy isn't a proper representation of everyone. There are so many people in your life who would never do something like that to you, so you don't have to always feel nervous."

Marco smiled as he reached up and wiped the tears off of his own cheeks, "I know, Craig. Thank you for talking to me... I didn't want to tell you at first, but now I'm glad I did. I guess I was afraid you would think the whole thing was my fault for being stupid enough to go up to a strange guy's room. I was so stupid... but you are really understanding and I'm glad I talked to you. You're a really good friend."

"So are you, Marco," Craig agreed, "and I'll let you know, I don't talk to just anyone about my dad. I just want you to know that I sort of know how you feel, in a way, and that everything is going to be fine. You'll get through this. And you aren't stupid, Marco. Maybe it was a bad decision, but look who you are talking to. I've made more bad decisions than anyone I've ever met," he smiled.

Marco laughed, "you have made some pretty bad choices," he agreed.

Craig laughed as well, "so you'll be back at school tomorrow?" he asked, "no more skipping class to go hang out with Spinner?"

Marco nodded, "yeah. I'll be in class. I just hope no one else asks me what happened. I'm sure Ellie will. She can never leave anything alone. I know it's just because she gets worried about people, but I really don't want to talk to her about this."

"Maybe she won't notice," Craig said.

Marco laughed, "yeah... sure. It's pretty noticeable, Craig. I'm surprised no one asked before you did. I got a lot of curious looks, but I guess most people were afraid to ask."

"You could always just tell her what you told me in gym class, about moving boxes," Craig suggested, "try to be a little more convincing though. Of course, I wouldn't recommend that you lie to your friends," he added, "just if you aren't ready to tell her yet, you could hold off on the truth for the time being."

"Well put, Craig," Marco smiled, "hold off on the truth..." Marco sighed and looked over at Craig's alarm clock by his bed, "Well, I guess I should be going," Marco told him.

"Alright," Craig responded.

Marco picked up his bag and walked down stairs, followed by Craig. Marco opened the door and walked outside while Craig stood in the doorway.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Craig told him.

Marco nodded. He looked down the sidewalk. There weren't many people walking about in this neighbourhood. It was quite dark by now, and honestly Marco was extremely nervous. It wasn't even just about Derek though. He knew Derek was in police custody, and even if he wasn't, he didn't know where Marco or Craig lived. There would be no way that he could even happen to run into him. Marco just simply didn't like walking around by himself at night. Especially not after the incident in the park.

"Craig... Um... this is going to sound stupid... but do you think you could give me a ride?" Marco asked, looking nervously up at Craig, "I'll pay for the gas."

"Of course!" Craig exclaimed, "you don't have to pay for the gas though. It's not _that_ far. I'll go get my keys and tell Joey I'm leaving."

Marco smiled and Craig went inside to get his car keys. He was glad Craig accepted his request without making a big deal of it. Marco knew that Craig could probably see that he was unusually nervous, but instead of pointing it out, Craig had remained casual in his speech and actions.

Craig drove him home and reminded him that he expected to see him in class the next day. Marco agreed to his request and thanked him again for the talk and the ride, then went inside his house. He had been so nervous to tell anyone what had happened, but he was actually very glad he had told Craig. He hadn't known Craig would be so understanding and kind to him. Marco smiled as he walked into his house. Tomorrow he would go to school and try to get his life back to normal. For the first time in a few days, he really did feel like he was going to make it through this and back to normality.

_**xxxxxx**_

_**I really don't know where to go from here. That's why I stopped posting last time... I have a part of the next chapter written, but I don't know what I'm trying to do... If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Maybe I can work with them...**_

_**What I'm thinking now, is that I might just write one or two more chapters with Marco and Dylan, showing that Marco is getting over this and that he and Dylan will "live happily ever after," so to speak... Just to let you know though, so there will be no disappointment, I don't write sex scenes, so there will be none of that. I think a couple people may have asked about that in reviews. I just don't like writing about actual sex... We can just assume it happens sometime in there... O_O  
**_


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